The Fall of Medusa V

In the Games Workshop summer campaign for 2006, The Fall of Medusa V, The 5th Erissian Engineers signed up and fought as part of Battle Group Imperator Aegis (BGIA) representing Warseer for the Imperial Guard.

The basic plot was that a giant warpspace rift, called Van Grothe's Rapidity, was expanding at an alarming rate and was due to destroy the Medusa System and with it the vital industrial planet of Medusa V. We had just eight weeks until the end of the world.

Part of the design for this campaign was that it would not be decided on a pure win/loss record but on a narrative. This meant that as much work has to be done on creating an interesting story on the forums as as on winning battles on the gaming table.

The narrative work took place through writing battle reports and tying in the events on the table to the overall storyline. The Imperial Guard objective for Medusa V was to evacuate the civilian population before the destruction of the planet while denying the vital resources to the enemy.

In addition to the core plot, BGIA hatched a plan to get the patron Saint of the Imperial Guard, St Pius, written back into the storyline. It was our job to push the idea that the Saint had returned to inspire men, push it hard in every report and every post.

For the campaign the planet of Medusa V was divided up between real world regions, the zone for the UK was called Edethor and featured the giant hive city of Sybilla Tertius, the extended trenchworks of the Mortise Line and numerous small settlements and mining operations.

BGIA was divided up along regional lines with BGIA Army Group Gladius, under Major General Drewxfu, taking control of Edethor

One of the jobs I picked up for Gladius during the campaign was writing Propaganda. This was in reality a way to keep our report threads on the front page where our Commanders could see it, a nicer way of doing it than empty posts named 'bump'.

As they were good fun I saved the propaganda posts and here they are, all the regiments and characters listed are players of BGIA. Of special note is the pushing to the moon of St Pius.

Ref: BGIA/Edethor/Gladius/ii24/Warseer
BY: Commissar Ozbury
TO: Imperial Troops, Edethor
RE: Glory to the Emperor, Glory to You!
Thought: Stand and Fight!

Glory to the Emperor, Glory to St Pius!

By the Golden Shield we advance as one against the tide of the corrupt and the unearthly, with lasgun and bayonet we blast their spirit and slash their bodies to ribbons of fetid meat!

Great victories have been won by the good and loyal and in recognition of these acts all who stand together are to be honoured with the Golden Shield of St Pius, have your men carry it with honour!

True and loyal warriors of the 6th Pangean Airmobile Regiment have shown you the way, they are killing the foul and depraved xenos that sully our cities, follow their great example!

Brave men of the 683rd Cadian Regiment are leading the way, killing traitors as they advance, our names are known to the enemy and they flee in terror before us!

Out on the Mortise Line Scarus 19th Liberation Legion have dealt the bestial greenskins a mighty blow, by cutting the supply lines to the 'Krawla' we have weakened it to the point of uselessness, now is the time to strike, finish the Krawla now, do it for the Emperor and for St Pius!

We are winning the war because of the great courage and dedication of all our loyal Imperial troops!

Death to the Xenos!

Death to the Traitors!

Death! Death! DEATH!

Commissar Ozbury
Hammer Company, 5th Erissian Engineers

Ref: BGIA/Edethor/Gladius/ii24/Warseer
BY: Commissar Ozbury
TO: Imperial Troops, Edethor
RE: Glory to the Emperor, Glory to You!
Thought: Honour your standard, Honour 
         Him!

Acts of great valour and vigour continue throughout Battle Group Imperator Aegis!

News reaches us of the courage of the Elysian 4th Grenadiers, driving back the foe and taking control of the medicae facilities, even now they distribute aid to our brave workers in Sybilla Tertius as the craven Eldar they defeated weep and lament their imminent deaths.

Blessed Armour of the Dniepr 673rd continues to drive the weak and impure heretics back into the desert. Denied the river the gutless and faithless survivors will take their own lives rather than face the unstoppable armies of the Imperial Guard!

The 62nd Cadian already follow their great example, mighty weapons, the very gift of the machine god butcher the running dogs of Ygethmor as they turn tail and run.

Follow these great examples, we are winning this war and we are doing it with honour, with courage and with the blessing of St Pius!

Golden Shield, advance!

Commissar Ozbury
Hammer Company, 5th Erissian Engineers

Ref: BGIA/Edethor/Gladius/ii24/Warseer
BY: Commissar Ozbury
TO: Imperial Troops, Edethor
RE: Contact with xenos must be through 
    an approved bayonet
Thought: No one expects the Imperial 
         Inquisition

Courage in the face of the enemy wins glory to you, glory to your regiment and glory to the Emperor!

The Golden Shield of St Pius defends Sybilla Tertius during Operation Storm Surge!

Brave soldiers of many regiments stand shoulder to should, fighting the enemy within the great hive city of Sybilla Tertius, look to the example of thunderous artillery, pounding the foul orks so the mighty mechanised Guardsmen of the 82nd Vanheim Panzergrenadiers and the 1st Vanheim Cityfight Veterans Division could maintain their lines and maul the foul greens!

Through combined arms and total warfare we maintain domination, together as a single mighty hammer we crush the His foes!

The units of Cadia also fight side by side, warriors of the Cadian 18th Army by virtue of their discipline, grit and the cojones of some exceptional Lieutenants, not only rescued a brave ally from the Cadian 222nd, recovered their colours and devastated the spineless Eldar!

Dauntless warriors of Cadia lead the way, alongside the 18th and the 222nd are the 683rd. 683rd Cadian including the men of the formidable Kasrkin companies faced down more of the fiendish Eldar! The depraved xenos were acting in their natural manner, taking slaves and torturing the innocent when the crushing power of the Emperor's lasfire drove them from their fortified position and denied them any ground in the manufacturing district.

Working closely with our allied units we achieve glory for all, stand by your battle brothers, forward as one!

For St Pius!

Commissar Ozbury
Hammer Company, 5th Erissian Engineers

Ref: BGIA/Edethor/Gladius/ii24/Warseer
BY: Commissar Ozbury
TO: Imperial Troops, Edethor
RE: Glory to the Emperor, Glory to You!
Thought: Courage is my Shield, Hate is 
         my Weapon

With the roar of prayer offered up to Him, we crush the foul xenos and despicable heretics in every sector!

On all fronts in this we we complete our missions and HOLD!

The enemy can no more stand against us than a candle to a hurricane! They are weak, impure of mind and body and without soul or courage! Their leaders abandon them at every turn and send them to their inevitable deaths!

The honourable leaders of the blessed and pure Imperial Guard arm our men with the finest weapons, defend them with the finest armour and lead them, with sound strategy incomprehensible to the heathen, only to certain victory, glory and medals for all!

What hope could the deviant traitors have against the Holy Armies of Lord Inquisitor Hawke and the Conclave of Mach'velaan? who as we speak consecrate the Chapels and Reliquaries of Sybilla Tertius once sullied by the unclean? who punish the traitors at every turn in the name of the Emperor and the Ordo Malleus? None! no hope for traitors, no respite, death to the heretics, burn their bodies and leave no trace!

Follow the great example of the Conclave of Mach'velaan!

There is glory enough for all loyal soldiers of the Imperial Guard, it is earned by the death of His enemies and service in His name!

Aspire to the valour of the 4th Elysian Grenadiers, those heroic warriors who, against seemingly impossible odds defended a sacred Bascillica, itself the shelter for many of the local civilians during this time of war, with pride in their weapons, great fortitude and a true and unswerving hatred of the enemy! Mighty hellguns felling dozens of the infidel before a counter charge of epic proportions, power swords swinging and battle hymns ringing in the air!

Glory to St Pius! Glory to The Emperor!

These are the actions of true Imperial Guardsmen, Guardsmen like you! Forward and Fight! Drive them from our Cities! Leave none alive!

Once again the 1st Vanheim are leading the advance deeper into enemy held sectors of Sybilla Tertius, even an ambush by the Traitors cannot stop them, the cowardly Heretics hide in fortified machine gun nests but every cool under fire the 1st ordered Hellhounds to flush them out with unstoppable flame! They called upon the ultimate infantry support gun, the all conquering Basilisk to shell the craven into submission and death! No mercy to the Heretics!

In every sector and in every combat our superior weapons and tactics defeat the foes of the Imperium, but it is you loyal men and women that make this happen! You are the heroes, the glory is to You, your Regiment and to the Emperor!

Commissar Ozbury
Hammer Company, 5th Erissian Engineers

Ref: BGIA/Edethor/Gladius/ii24/Warseer
BY: Commissar Ozbury
TO: Imperial Troops, Edethor
RE: Glory to the Emperor, Glory to You!
Thought: Let me hear you balalaika's 
         ringing out, Come and keep your 
         comrade warm 

Enemies of the Divine Emperor of Mankind quake in fear before us!

Now is the time for all loyal soldiers to do their part, together as a single mighty hammer we strike down the foes and reclaim Sybilla Tertius!

The unstoppable armour of Operation Thunder Shield even now rolls to the very gates of the city! Craven and weak the heretics are surrendering and the xenos weeping and begging for mercy, show them none!

No Mercy to Traitors! No Mercy to Aliens! Only Death to the Unclean!

Deep within the hive the brave warriors of His divine armies drive the heathen from the Hive Core! Operation Storm Breaker, carrying the Golden Shield of St Pius before it, is a manifestation of the Emperor's Will, a force no spineless follower of chaos or soulless beast could hope to repel. Drive the heretics from their hiding places, flush out the dark corners where the xenos lurks and slay them as they plead for their miserable lives!

No Mercy to Traitors! No Mercy to Aliens! Only Death to the Unclean!

We are invincible! We are indomitable! We are the Imperial Guard!

Commissar Ozbury
Hammer Company, 5th Erissian Engineers